How The Top U.S. Food Chains Score On Sustainable Meat Production

The world’s top meat and dairy producers are currently on track to become the worst polluters on the planet, even edging out oil corporations in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Improving the meat supply chain is an increasingly pressing concern, which is why the environmental advocacy group Mighty Earth recently published a reportassessing the sustainability of meat production at 23 major food chains. The results reveal that just about every brand has room for improvement.

Mighty Earth rated the brands on sustainable feed sourcing, supply chain greenhouse gas emissions reduction, and centralized manure processing, tallying each score up to an overall letter grade. The companies included a wide range of fast-food chains and grocery stores, with international brands like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chipotle, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, and Costco all making the list.

They didn’t do so hot on their report cards, though. Mighty Earth handed out F’s to 22 out of the 23 companies. The only brand that didn’t flunk was Walmart, which earned two D’s and one B for a cumulative D score.